AI IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

In the early 2000s, when I entered the accounting profession, spreadsheets quickly became an indispensable tool. They enabled us to perform analysis that was virtually impossible to do manually, and computers proved to be superior to humans when it came to number crunching. It was clear that my value as a professional accountant would come from the “soft” skills – the technical policies, context, and interpretations that surrounded the numbers. Let the computer handle the numbers and us humans would take care of the communications.

Now, over 20 years later, we have a new tool that is poised to become just as indispensable for the “soft” stuff: artificial intelligence (AI) powered by large language models like Chat GPT, Bing, Bard, and others. While these language-focused AI models are still in their infancy, they have been trained using enormous databases of digitized written communication, such as books, reports, academic journals, memos, letters, news articles, blogs, and the internet. When you ask them a question, they predict the answer based on their training.

will thrive in the business world precisely because of the predictable nature of business communication.

In the end, the robots will not be held accountable; it will still be us humans who will receive praise or blame. The language AI will become an indispensable tool, just like the spreadsheet was to the calculator. Instead of spending hours creating a first draft of a technical memo, you will be able to do it in minutes. This new process will require fewer people to perform the same tasks as before. But just like the spreadsheet, we will soon be able to do things with technology that were previously unimaginable.

Business communications are highly predictable and use templates, generic tone, and concise wording to avoid misinterpretation. As it turns out, accountants, finance professionals, and lawyers, have spent countless hours perfecting text that ultimately reads like a robot generated it. We can’t afford the risks associated with being creative in business and legal documents. Language AI models

UMAR SAEED is a Partner at Welch LLP in Toronto and widely recognized as an expert in public sector accounting. In this regard, he speaks regularly at conferences and lectures on related topics.